In e-mail interview to Forbes India, P.A. Murali, Joint President & CFO, United Spirits (USL), says that none of the company’s competitors has the kind of pan India footprint that USL brands command
USL is today the world’s largest spirits company in volumes. What have been the important milestones and decisions that has helped the firm scale this peak?
Our unerring understanding of the complex landscape of the alcobev industry, the emerging trend of the Indian consumers and the vision about the synergies that can be brought to the table by acquiring a fierce competitor are the hallmarks of this journey to global leadership.
In my opinion, our decision to offer top dollar for the acquisition of Shaw Wallace & Company, in 2005, amidst lot of skepticism in the minds of the investors and analysts’ fraternity, was an indelible milestone in our path to achieving not only the increased profitability, but also global leadership by volume.
The Indian liquor market presents significant challenges what with varying state policies, different tax structures and competition in the market. USL has managed to overcome these difficulties. What to your mind has been the key to this success?
Competition especially from multinationals is not new to the Indian alcoholic beverage sector. They have been present in this country for more than 15 years now and have failed to make an impact or counter the scorching growth of USL.
Following are the keys to our success:
Please understand that there is empirical evidence that 9 out of 10 brands launched in the FMCG sector are not successful. The fact that we have come up with several brands as listed above which are dominating their own categories demonstrates USL’s ability to understand its consumers as well as the depth of distribution that we have in creating successful brands.